Sep 21, 2023 Fall Equinox 2023
The 2023 Fall Equinox occurs on September 23 when there are approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness in the day. The word “equinox” actually stems from the Latin words meaning “equal” and “night.” As the Earth rotates around the sun, the Fall Equinox marks the increase tilt of the Northern Hemisphere closer to the sun, which results in fewer hours of day and more hours of night for us as our proximity to the sun begins to decline.
It marks a period of transition from the go, go, go and do, do, do days of summer which are long, filled with light, and outwardly-focused, to the more balanced and reflective days of fall that begin to slow down a bit, include more darkness, and become more inwardly-focused. The fall season is an introspective time of checks and balances. It is a time of letting go of things that we find are not actually important and that no longer serve us, with a retention of the things that are important and do still continue to serve us. Metaphorically, it serves as the beginning of the time of death before the rebirth of spring. In nature, the leaves shed from the trees, the temperature begins to grow colder as the outward and life-generating energy of the sun is felt less, and crops are harvested to prepare for the barrenness of the land that results with winter. As humans, as we age, we begin to take inventory what is truly paramount to us/our happiness, hold those things dear, and shed what is not.
The Fall Equinox serves as a magical time to remind us to take inventory of the abundance from the spring and summer, and release what we do not require to carry us into and through the winter. A time to qualify all that is present in our lives and unite it (or not) with our vision for our near future, before the close of the year. A beautiful cycle of birth, gain, release, and death. Constant in its nature. Ever-changing and ever-moving.
If you feel so inspired, here are some journal prompts to help you embrace that which is inherent in the fall equinox:
- Think back to the recent spring and summer months. What have you gained from them? How have they created abundance in your life (remember, abundance a gain are not necessarily positive qualities).
- Consider yourself for a moment. Are you a person who lets go easily? Or do you tend to struggle with surrender, and hold tight to things, whether they are material, physical, emotional, etc.? Why do you think that is?
- What, if anything, are you prepared to release this fall season, and why?
Love, light, and happy letting go!
Ashley
